Have you EVER seen
                    a dolphin trainer
PUNISH...
                     a DOLPHIN?

Jan Czaja CBCC-KA, CPDT-KA

A word on the science....

Positive reinforcement has been a scientifically documented training method for nearly a century.  Marine mammal trainers have successfully used it for over 50 years to motivate their animals and keep them happy and healthy.  How would you, or could you, physically punish a 400 pound dolphin?

The science of reinforcement and its effect on behavior was pioneered by B.F. Skinner, one of the most influential psychologists of the 20th century.  His techniques, among others, were adopted by marine mammal trainers and then popularized by dog industry experts such as Dr. Ian Dunbar and Karen Pryor.  Today an overwhelming majority of experts agree that positive reinforcement is the most effective training method. 

Many dog owners are simply unaware of positive training methods or view them as too permissive.  Many owners had dogs as children and saw their dog being trained with coersive methods, like a rolled up newspaper or a jerk on the leash when the dog misbehaved.  These methods have been popularized on many recent TV shows, along with unscientific notions of dominance and pack leadership.  They appear to be working, but upon careful inspection they are seriously flawed.

Punishment is less effective, more time consuming and has significantly higher risk of physical and emotional damage to the animal than the use of positive reinforcement.  In cases of anxiety and aggression, punishment can increase the problem behavior, rather than supress it.

The SMARTER way to live, train and play!

At Smart Paws, we will teach you these methods, which involve the use of a clicker device.  This is identical to the way dolphin trainers use their whistles.  When you click your clicker, you are helping your dog to choose the correct behavior.  A reward follows that click, and you dog associates the click and reward together so learning is fast, simple and fun, even in cases of extreme behavior.  For Frequently Asked Questions on our method CLICK HERE!